1. Purdue University Writing Lab Finding Your Focus: The Writing Process A presentation brought to you by the Purdue University Writing Lab

2. Purdue University Writing Lab Everyone has a writing process. What is yours?

3. Purdue University Writing Lab Why try to understand your writing process? It can help writers to organize their thoughts. It can help writers to avoid frustration and procrastination. It can help writers to use their time productively and efficiently.

4. Purdue University Writing Lab Writing process Invention Collection Organization Drafting Revising Proofreading

5. Purdue University Writing Lab Invention: coming up with your topic Brainstorming:  Getting your ideas on paper so you can give yourself the widest range of topics possible

6. Purdue University Writing Lab Brainstorming: coming up with ideas that interest you Listing: Political apathy Animal abuse NFL instant replay Air pollution Telemarketing scams Internet censorship NBA salary caps Paper Topics Brainstorming

7. Purdue University Writing Lab Clustering: mapping out ideas ME Internet censorship telemar- keting scams NFL instant replay NBA political apathy three-party system salary caps sportsmanship animal abuse First Amendment Flag Burning Amend- ment

8. Purdue University Writing Lab Collection Gathering ideas Locating and evaluating research Conducting interviews

9. Purdue University Writing Lab Organizing: putting information into an order OUTLINE I. Info from where? A. Invention tools B. Collection process II. Ways to Organize A. Sketch outline B. Chunking C. Prediction workshop III. What determines which info to use? A. Rhetorical purpose of your writing

10. Purdue University Writing Lab Drafting Give yourself ample time to work on your project. Find a comfortable place to do your writing. Avoid distractions. Take breaks.

11. Purdue University Writing Lab Revising: reviewing ideas Review higher-order concerns:  Clear communication of ideas  Organization of paper  Paragraph structure  Strong introduction and conclusion

12. Purdue University Writing Lab Proofreading Review later- order concerns:  Spelling  Punctuation  Sentence structure  Documentation style

13. Purdue University Writing Lab Proofreading tips Slowly read your paper aloud. Read your paper backwards. Exchange papers with a friend. NOTE: Spell check will not catch everything, and grammar checks are often wrong!

14. Purdue University Writing Lab The Writing Process: Find Your Focus Invention Collection Organization Drafting Revising Proofreading